“Formation may be the best name for what happens in a circle of trust, because the word refers, historically, to soul work done in community. But a quick disclaimer is in order, since formation sometimes means a process quite contrary to the one described in this book----a process in which the pressure of orthodox doctrine, sacred text, and institutional authority… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share
Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places. I learned about these qualities during my bouts with depression. In that deadly darkness, the faculties I had always depended on collapsed. My intellect was useless; my emotions were dead; my will was impotent; my ego was shattered. But… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share
The human soul doesn't want to be fixed, it simply wants to be seen and heard. The soul is like a wild… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
Spirituality is not primarily about values and ethics, not about exhortations to do right or live well. The spiritual traditions are primarily… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
As I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together. — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
We must come together in ways that respect the solitude of the soul that avoid the unconscious violence we do when we… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
Perhaps, the answer is that my ravaged mind rails against the idea of God, but something deeper in me calls out as… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
“The God I know is the source of reality, rather than morality; the source of 'what is' rather than the source of 'what ought… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
One of the hardest things we must do sometimes is to be present to another person's pain without trying to "fix" it, to simply… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
Opposing what's wrong is a halfway measure at best. A rebel must also have a vision for something better, a strategy for moving toward… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one's inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together. The entanglements I experience in the classroom are often no more or less than the convolutions of my inner life. Viewed from this angle, teaching… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share
If my life is any example, the work that youth workers are doing is very, very important. It tends to get marginalized in the church or seen as less important than being a senior minister in a large, prosperous congregation; but I don't believe that for a minute. I think this is absolutely critical work in the life of the… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share
Self-care is never a selfish act - it is only good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
The spiritual life is about becoming more at home in your own skin. — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
“Formation may be the best name for what happens in a circle of trust, because the word refers, historically, to soul work done in community. But a quick disclaimer is in order, since formation sometimes means a process quite contrary to the one described in this book----a process in which the pressure of orthodox doctrine, sacred text, and institutional authority… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share
Don't let anyone or anything rob you of the beauty and meaning at the heart of life. It's your birthright gift. — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
“Citizenship is a way of being in the world rooted in the knowledge that I am a member of a vast community of human… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
I think the church needs to be much more countercultural than that and invite people into slowing down, into a "Be-still-and-know-that-I-am-God" mindset. — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share
My high school, like most high schools, had a pretty rigid stratification system. Kids were clustered into groups - the studious ones, the athletes,… — Parker J. Palmer Copy Share Image
